Police: Baby brain dead after father’s assault
When medics first saw Skyelynn Jamison this week, the two-month-old girl had a serious head injury, broken ribs and bruises all over her body.
Her father, 18-year-old Tyler L. Jamison, told a doctor on the phone earlier that he thought something was wrong, but police say he ignored orders to take the girl to a hospital immediately.
Now Skyelynn is on life support at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, and Jamison is in Spokane County Jail on a first-degree assault charge that police say will be amended to a murder charge if Skyelynn dies.
The girl is not expected to survive, said police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer DeRuwe.
Detectives arrested Jamison late Wednesday after his girlfriend’s family told 911 dispatchers he planned to leave town to escape arrest.
Spokane County District Court Judge Debra Hayes called the police description of the case “difficult for anyone to read” before ruling Jamison a flight risk Thursday. His bail was set at $200,000.
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Skyelynn is the third Spokane baby in two years to suffer fatal injuries allegedly at the hands of a caretaker.
In March 2008, Nevaeh Alana Miller died after police say her mother’s boyfriend, Jereme J. Bassett, abused her. Bassett, 24, is scheduled for trial in June on one charge of second-degree murder.
In December 2008, Izayah Arlen Wayne Denison died at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend, Andrew W. Whitmire. Whitmire, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in November and is serving 14 years in prison.
In February, Daniel S. O'Brien, 23, was charged with assaulting his 2-month-old daughter, Tristan. He remains in jail.